Star Wars The Force Unleashed II

Taking place during the Vader years, in Star Wars The Force Unleashed II you are an "accelerated clone" Starkiller who Vader is training to become his new organic-weapon. Unfortunately for Vader, you aren't quite as perfect as he had hoped. You still have feelings and memories which interfere with his direct commands. You are still in love with Juno - and Vader is furious with you for your failings.

The graphics are lovely. You're a dual-wielding saber dude who can bash everything within sight. You gain points as you destroy objects, and unlock challenges. You fight stormtroopers and robots of all shapes and sizes. The stirring Star Wars music is everywhere.

The game is quite forgiving. When you die you usually start very close to where you left off. So you are encouraged to just plow ahead and tackle enemies. And the game supports that. You're starting out as a well trained soldier, not as a newbie. So right from the beginning you take on enemies with power and skill.

There are tweaks that you can do to your lightsaber, like adding gems to give them color changes and bonusses. But on the other hand you're stuck with your one character. He is the way he is. He can't have dark skin, or be female, or anything else. In our modern world that's quite bizarre. Why can't you use a character that connects with you?

These are all minor issues compared with the one massive failing of this game, though. It is incredibly short. You could pick it up on a Friday after work, expect to sit down to a long weekend of game playing fun. And then you're barely through your third slice of pizza and THE GAME ENDS. Sure you might expect four hour gameplay if it was a cheap download that you got to pass the time until you headed out to a movie. But for a full price game? A game with this history? It makes absolutely no sense at all.

Sure you can replay it on a harder level. Sure you can do some of the challenges. But when you get a game like this you expect a fairly long, epic-style story with character development, plot twists, and intrigue.